Ishrat probe officer gets new Secy-level posting for 2 yrs

New Delhi: Senior IAS officer B K Prasad, who probed the Ishrat Jahan missing files case, was today appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes.

Prasad, who is working as Additional Secretary in Home Ministry, was due to retire on May 31 after completing 60 years of age of superannuation. He was, however, given two months extension which was to end on Sunday.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved appointment of Prasad to the new post for two years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

The Commission, which works under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, was constituted in 2005 to study various developmental aspects of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic tribes in the country.

Prasad, who was in news for allegedly ‘tutoring’ a witness in connection with the enquiry into the case, is a 1983 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.

The government had earlier appointed Maharashtra cadre IAS officer Bipin Bihari Mallick as his replacement in the Home Ministry.

In the aftermath of the controversy surrounding the issue of missing papers from the file dealing with the filing of affidavit in Ishrat Jahan case, the Home Ministry had ordered an enquiry by Prasad on March 14, this year. The panel has submitted its report on June 15.

19-year-old Ishrat Jahan and three others were killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004. The Gujarat Police had then claimed those killed were LeT terrorists and had gone there to assassinate the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The papers, which disappeared from the Home Ministry, include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the then Attorney General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009 and the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the AG to which changes were made by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram.